Now We're Even
by JesterChester
Summary: Paige gets an unexpected visitor which turns out to become an unexpected friend. Post 3x13. Paige x Caleb friendship, Paily, Paige x Toby x Caleb friendship.


When I heard the knock on the door, I was curious. Emily wasn't supposed to be over here until at least 8 and right now it was only four in the afternoon. My parents were out and I thought that maybe it was just some kid selling Girl Scout cookies or something, so I rushed down to open the door. When I saw his long brown hair and equally deep brown eyes I was a little surprised.

"Uh…Caleb, hi. What brings you here?" I said. I was so surprised that I didn't even take a step back to let him in, I just stood there staring at him, waiting for an explanation. This was strange, Caleb and I rarely talked. One time I asked him with help on fixing my computer, and there was that time when we talked on the Halloween train, but that was it. The fact that he even knew where I lived made me slightly uneasy, but the worried look in his eyes made everything worse. "Are you okay?" I moved back and let him in, we walked into my kitchen where I offered him a glass of water and we sat down by the island on stools.

"I'm not really…I know this isn't my place." Caleb started. I heard his sigh of relief louder than I expected to, and I reached out and nudged his hand a little.

"Hey, if this is about Hanna, I mean you should probably talk to Emily or something. I don't really know about-."

"Paige, this isn't about Hanna, it's about Emily." The sincerity in his eyes scared me. This was about Emily? What happened? I was already standing up before I knew it. I was pulling on a jacket and tying my shoes when Caleb put his hand on my shoulder to stop me. "No, wait…she's fine…I mean, I saw her crying yesterday. That's why I wanted to talk." Crying? What happened?

"You saw her crying? Where? Why?" My questions were coming out faster than my brain could even work.

"I think this is about Nate…or Lyndon or whatever the hell his name was. I mean she stabbed him…she killed him. It must be weighing on her. She came over and talked to Hanna, but how can Hanna understand it to the depth that you can?" Caleb questioned.

"What about you, you got shot, am I right?" Caleb crossed his arms over his chest and I mimicked his actions. "The bad boy intimidation factor doesn't work on me." He arched an eyebrow.

"I never expected it to." He laughed and dropped his arms to his sides. "Look, I think you should talk to her about what happened. You both have enough to talk about."

"I don't understand why she didn't talk to me about this, why go to Hanna and not me?" I questioned mostly to myself but when I heard Caleb chuckle from behind me I spun and faced him.

"Hanna, Aria, Spencer, and Emily an inseparable. If you think she'd got to you first with her drama then you're crazy." I didn't like this, I didn't like feeling so far out of the loop. It wasn't right. "Plus this whole time she'd been trying to be the strong one. She came out before you, she helped you through a lot, but right now, she needs you to be strong."

"I can be strong I can-."

"Hanna told me about how you saved Spencer's butt even after we accused you of being A. I know you're strong." Caleb and I returned to the kitchen and to the stools. "Spencer used to think that I was A too." I looked over at him and smirked.

"Really? Yeah well, that's Spencer." I said with a shrug. "I never really thanked you." I told him.

"For what?"

"For being there for Emily, for taking a bullet for her. If I ever lost her I wouldn't-…I couldn't…" Caleb rested his hand on my shoulder.

"You don't have to say it. I feel the same way about Hanna." I could tell by the slight smile on his face that he was in love. I have the same expression when I'm with Emily.

"I thought tough guys weren't supposed to fall in love." I said nudging him in the ribs.

"Hey you're tougher than me and you're _clearly _in love." Caleb replied with a smile. "We got pretty lucky. I'm just worried about this A thing." I was right with him now. I was scared of A because I couldn't calculate the A team's next move. I wanted to project Emily but I didn't know how, and I couldn't be at her side 24/7.

"Well we could always use a gun." Caleb's eyes widened slightly and only a second later we found ourselves laughing. Sometimes it helped being around people with a sense of humor because most of the time I just stuck my foot in my mouth. "Sorry that was-."

"Morbidly hilarious." Caleb finished for me. "But in all seriousness. You'll help me protect the girls right?" As soon as he said it he covered his mouth. "Oh shit I didn't mean-."

"I know what you meant-."

"I wasn't saying that you're not a girl, you're just tough and-."

"Caleb it's okay-."

"Sometimes I sort of say too much-."

"I really don't mind that you-."

"I'm so sorry Paige-."

"Caleb for the love of God would you shut up!" Finally, he closed his mouth and we both just sat there waiting for the other to say something. I cleared my throat and smiled. "I think we're buddies now."

"I think we are too." Caleb replied. "I'm sorry for coming over all unexpected though, did you have plans?"

"Em's coming over in-." The doorbell rang and Caleb and I exchanged glances. "Now I guess." We both stood and walked to the front door. I opened it and found Emily, Spencer, Hanna, and Toby standing there. "Whoa, wasn't expecting that." I said as Emily gave me an apologetic smile.

"Trust me I'm sorry, I ran into Hanna who then called Spencer, and the cycle continues…hey Caleb." Emily said eyeing me curiously. "Do you want to go to a movie or hang here? If your parents would get upset then don't do it just to make me happy." I shook my head and grabbed Emily's hand.

"No this is great, I'll put on some pizza, everyone's welcome to come in." I said. As everyone gradually moved towards the living room, Emily and I stayed in the kitchen to fix up some food.

"Are you mad at me?" Emily questioned. I turned around and frowned.

"What? Of course not." I told her truthfully. "I'm actually relatively excited about having everyone over. I just want to ask you something." I told her. Her eyes met mine and she leaned against the counter watching as I made a salad. My hands were beginning to shake, and Emily never took her eyes off me. "Were you crying at Hanna's house?"

"How'd you…oh." The realization dawned at her and she looked down at her feet. "Caleb told you."

"Yeah."

"I should've come to you. If I did you would've told me how strong I am and right now I wouldn't be able to handle that. I just needed someone to lean on; you would've made me feel too special. Does it make sense? It all makes sense in my head I'm not as poetic as you." I wrapped my arms around her and held her close.

"I understand you. I may not understand exactly what you're feeling, but I understand you." I whispered in her ear. I pulled back and smiled. "How did I get so lucky?"

"No, I'm the lucky one." I told her. Emily closed the gab between us, and pressed her lips against mine. I wrapped my arm around waist and pulled her body closer against mine.

"Get some Em!" Hanna shouted as she entered the kitchen. "Hey does that salad mean we're on a health kick or something? I mean as much as I love my veggies, I'm not the one who has to fit into a swimsuit, so I need some real food." I blushed and stepped back from Emily. She pushed her hair back behind her ear and watched Hanna as the blond began getting herself a glass of _Coke_.

"Hanna we were kinda in the middle of something." Emily whispered.

"Yea I could see that. You can continue I don't care. Remember I went to that GSA community meeting, there were rainbow cupcakes there, they were delicious. So I'm good with you guys doing your thing." Hanna said with a big grin. I was never really astonished by Hanna anymore just amused.

"You are unbelievable." Emily said.

"The word you're looking for is lovable." Hanna corrected for Emily as Spencer entered. "Hey Spence. Did you leave the boys alone in there? Not your best idea Spencer."

"We could've had adult supervision if Aria and Ezra ever decide to be part of normal existence." Spencer said.

"If the guy who taught me how to formulate a thesis ever shows up at my door I'm so done." I added. Hanna, Spencer and Emily exchanged looks and suddenly I felt like I shouldn't be in there. Emily was too sweet to ask me to leave, but I knew that I should. "On that note I'm gonna see what the guys are up to." Before I exited the room Emily stopped and gave me a quick peck on the lips letting me know that she was grateful that I wasn't making a big deal out of this.

"You guys are uncomfortably adorable, it makes me want to hurl." I overheard Spencer say as I went into the living room to find the guys sitting on the couch and arguing over something.

"Uh guys." I said sitting down on the couch across from them.

"Paige tell Toby he's wrong." Caleb pleaded.

"I don't even know what you're talking about." I said. "Fill me in."

"Toby thinks that _Hey, Arnold_ was a better show than _Dexter's Laboratory_." Caleb started. "Tell him that he's a maniac."

"I'm not crazy, _Hey, Arnold _is tops man. You're wrong Caleb just face it." Toby had this look that let me know that he was not budging on his stance.

"_Dexter's Laboratory_ takes the cake, no contest. That show had science, I'm gonna have to agree with Caleb on this one." Caleb reached over and gave me a high five. "Plus, Toby you'd better get on the science train, or Spencer's gonna wipe the floor with you."

Caleb made a whipping noise and I stifled a laugh. "Oh you're one to talk; I heard you went to the nail salon with Hanna yesterday tough guy." Toby said elbowing Caleb in the chest. Now I was laughing even harder than before.

"Paige let me just remind you that you go grocery shopping for Emily." Toby said with a taunting voice.

"Okay fair enough." I nodded feeling like I was apart of the taunted at this point.

"Oh and you bought Emily 147 raffle tickets so she could try and win a teddy bear." Caleb added with a laugh.

"Okay thanks guys I get it." I said as I stood up and punched both of them in the shoulder. They were both groaning and rubbing their shoulders ferouciously when the rest of the girls walked in.

"Whoa what's going on?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah why do the boys look like they're about to cry?" Spencer questioned.

"Oh no reason." I said innocently before leaning closer to Toby and Caleb. "Now we're even."


End file.
